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Monday, June 11, 2012

Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and
earth. And blessed be God Most High, who
delivered your enemies into your hand.
Genesis 14:19

We must be servants of God with
courage and vision in order to help God’s people see their highest and most
precious reward which is Christ. Romans 8:28 reads, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” We rarely see things
in their proper setting, what God is doing behind the scene; therefore we don’t
see the importance of “all things” that God works for our good. We fail to understand the process God has
brought us into. It’s important to understand His desire in us as His
children. We must understand the spiritual
state of the church as it is now and how it should be, beforewe can proceed as instruments in the
purpose of God.

In the Old Testament Nehemiah,
Ezra and the other prophets had hearts focused on God. Because of this God was
able to move them to pray for the spiritual condition of His people, Israel.
They would help them in whatever way God led them. This is why as the Lord
leads us through the life of Abraham we can see how God uses situations to
adjust Abraham’s life and understanding.
He is doing the same with us today.
Remember how the conflict between Abraham and Lot’s servants brought
them to the point of separation? Lot is a natural
man who, unlike Abraham, has not heard God’s voice. Before our spiritual birth we walked according to
the natural man; the five senses
influenced by our surroundings and environment. The discernment to know the difference between walking in the spirit and the natural man is so needed in the Body of Christ. When Abraham and Lot made the decision to
separate and Abraham gave Lot first choice, we see that the spiritual man Abraham left it up to God to choose for him.
Many of us make the mistake of choosing
for ourselves instead of waiting for God, we move without seeking the direction
of the Lord. If Christ is truly Lord of our lives He owns us, He has redeemed
us. The grace of God is so wonderful
because even when we make wrong choices and reap difficulties and troubles, God
will deliver us if we cry out to Him!
Psalm 78:34-39; “Whenever God slew
them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered
that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer. But then they
would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues; their
hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he
was merciful; he forgave theiriniquities
and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not
stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing
breeze that does not return.” He is
the same yesterday, today and forever.

Genesis 13: 14-15 “The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted
from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east
and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring
forever.” John 10:10 reads, “I have
come that they may have life and have it to the full.” It is wonderful when
we are living in the center of God’s will as an instrument of God. Ephesians
1:11-12, “In Him we were also chosen,
having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything
in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the
first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.” We will
walk in the joy of the Lord as we allow God to lead us.

God continues to adjust Abraham’s
life when Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom and ends up living in Sodom. Genesis 14:11-12 “The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all
their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and
his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.” Abraham fought the kings
and rescued Lot. Remember that the spiritual man is delivering the natural man
from slavery to the things of this world. We see this emphasized in types and
shadows in the Old Testament, but it is clearly written in 1 Peter 1:8- 9 “Though you have notseen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you
believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you
are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation
of your souls.”Genesis 14:16 “He recovered all the goods
and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women
and the other people.” The King of
Sodom came out to meet him and then Abram meets Melchizedek. There is a process
taking place and we must understand it.
God speaks to Abraham through Melchizedek in Genesis 14:19, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator
of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies
into your hand.” Melchizedek is
making sure Abraham knows that there is someone in control of his situation. God was with
him in the Old Testament and he overcame, but in the New Testament God is in us and we have overcome. I John 4:4; “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who
is in you is greater than the one
who is in the world.” When Abraham begins to hand over the things that he
has recovered to the King of Sodom, the King says in Genesis 14:21 “ . . . Give me the people and keep the
goods for yourself.” 22-23 “But Abram
said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath, that I will accept nothing
belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will
never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.”
Genesis 15:1 “After this, the word
of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I AM your
shield, your very great reward.”
Remember it is Christ in us, He is our treasure, He is our prosperity,
He is our reward, and He is all in all.
We cannot forget that.

We are children of God. We must not depend on the government or the
world to save or keep us alive. Read what our Lord said in Matthew 6:25- 26, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do
not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
them.” I disagree with the mentality of some Christians who quote Proverbs
13:22, “. . . The wealth of the wicked is
laid up for the just.” The prosperity message has many of God’s children
frustrated, discouraged and even angry with God because they don’t understand
His process or final outcome. This was not the mind of Abraham nor is it the
mind of Christ; 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “For
who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the
mind of Christ.” Christ was offered
the kingdoms of this world and rejected them.
He knew that there was coming a time when all kingdoms would belong to
Him and He was not going to take any backward step that would keep him from
going to the cross and accomplishing his purpose. We must also accept the work of the cross in
order to come into our full reward. Once Abraham released the natural
possessions he sees God as his reward.
We have turned this around and become obsessed with world possessions
and ignorant of the truth that God is our reward. Before
any spiritual development unto full stature is achieved, there must be a
radical deliverance from the wrong development of the soul’s powers.Reflect on your life and allow the
word of God to reveal the intents of your heart before you make important
decisions. We cannot be true witnesses
if we are not allowing the life of Christ to be expressed through us, His
children. There’s lack of confidence
when we don’t understand God’s process or see that He is working behind the scene.

Before any spiritual development unto full stature is
achieved, there must be a radical deliverance from the wrong development of the
soul’s powers.

We have had the Word of God from
Genesis to Revelation for thousands of years; however when doubt enters in
causing weakness, spiritual progress and growth slowdown. Ephesians 4:13 reads, “. . . until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of
the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the
fullness of Christ.” This is not an independent process; Unity in the
Spirit is a powerful revelation for the members of the Body of Christ. You are a part of the Body of Christ and
your spiritual progress depends on other members of the Body of Christ. God is raising men and women to teach the
Body of Christ the importance of each member.
We are all loved the same. It is Christ in all of us, the hope of
glory. We must allow the Holy Spirit to
bring adjustment to our lives as this truth is revealed. Paul also discovers that weakness and
mistakes are part of this adjustment. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “. . . Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why,
for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God knew Abraham’s weakness and
limitations, yet he continued working in him because he knew why he called
him. Not until Abraham was separated
from Isaac was he able to see himself more than an earthly father. In Genesis 22:17, 18; “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the
stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take
possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all
nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” He discovers
God’s divine thought of not only natural descendants (sand on the seashore) but
spiritual descendants (stars in the sky). By this continued adjustment, Abraham
moved into a greater understanding of God’s purpose for his life. You and I are
very special to our heavenly Father.
Each one of us must also go through this process so that we can come
into the fullness of our inheritance. I
conclude with Colossians 3:1,4, “Since
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, whereChrist is seated at the right hand of
God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and
your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with
him in glory.”